Before I moved to Germany, I felt that I had a reasonable, basic knowledge of how things work here. I read a lot of blogs, books, and even talked to some real, live Germans. I knew, though, that once I lived here and didn't just visit, I'd learn even more.
That I did, and I am still doing. However, I didn't realize how much I'd also learn about other places, including even the US!
Here are some of the things I learned:
Wisconsin:
-they call water fountains "bubblers." It sounds so quaint ;)
-they might call ATMs "TYME" machines (pronounced "time"); it was an acronym given for the name of the machines. It sounds so retro-future-y that it's awesome! I would be very excited about going to the time machine, I think.
-traffic lights are called stop and go lights. Makes sense!
UK:
-I am still confused by this one. Having "tea" doesn't necessarily mean having a cuppa; instead, it could be a meal. Whenever my UK friends invite me for tea, I find myself asking if they mean a meal or the drink.
-oh lawdy. I was trying to talk about pudding (you know, what Bill Cosby was always hawking?) and we had a super confusing conversation about it. My friend was envisioning some sort of cakey thing and I was seeing J-E-L-L-O.
India:
-really good Indian tea takes a while to make, about 15 minutes or so, and involves spices, tea, etc.
-Americans' use of the term "curry" just to mean spices is not correct. Curry is the sauce. Curry spices are varied. I think we need to tell McCormick spices that!
This is SO funny! I don't know boo about India, but while in Scotland just last week, our host told us she was going to make a curry. Ok, the spice? No. Lamb Curry. So "curry" isn't the spice. Yes, it is. But she kept talking about it in a way that made it clear she was not just serving us curry (powder). OMG, I was so confused. So curry is a spice, and it's also a DISH. Got it. And then she served the pudding... This was delicious, but it was NOT pudding! Separated by a common language....
ReplyDeleteOh, and being from Wisconsin, I definitely call water fountains bubblers, but I do NOT say "stop and go lights". That's one that irks me - it's like baby speak. How did you learn about these Wisconsinisms??
My good friend C is from Wisconsin so we talked about all the terms :)
ReplyDeleteI get all the time that I faintly sound as if I'm from Minnesota - I just even heard that again tonight. Considering I've never been there, it's funny!